thedrifter
01-31-08, 06:29 AM
Flight simulations keep pilots in practice
Published Thu, Jan 31, 2008 12:00 AM
By DAN HILLIARD
dhilliard@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5531
There's no experience like sliding into the cockpit of an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet, throttling up and aiming for the sky, said Rob Gwinn, the director of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort's training facility.
When you need to practice something costly, however -- like a bombing run or a mid-air dogfight -- it pays to have a few flight simulators handy.
Gwinn expects to install three new flight simulators at the air station by early 2009. The first, a two-seater, will be operational by April.
Until then, air station pilots will practice on the station's lone simulator, which accommodates about
10 one-hour sessions per day.
At $3 million apiece, the new simulators are a bargain, he said.
The air station has had simulators since 1970, but early models had no visual display, no digital readouts and a prohibitively high price tag -- upward of $25 million.
Simulators typically last for about 10 to 20 years before they wear out or are replaced by newer technology. They cost about $250 per hour of operation to run and
maintain.
Compare that with between $8,000 to $9,000 -- including maintenance -- per hour of flight time in a real F/A-18, according to the Marine Corps' Department of Aviation.
Though pilots typically get about 10 percent of their continuing flight practice in a simulator, the simulator is most useful for bombing runs and other high-cost, high-risk
missions.
"You can't just go out and drop smart weapons. Those things cost thousands and thousands of dollars. Here, they can drop them all day in the simulator, and it doesn't cost a thing," Gwinn said. "And, not only do these things cost only 10 percent of what they used to -- without taking inflation into account -- they're 40 percent cheaper to maintain because parts are cheaper."
Royal Australian Air Force pilot Anthony Batchler, on loan to the air station through the officer exchange program, penciled himself in for some simulator time Monday
afternoon.
The biggest value of a simulator to a seasoned pilot is the debriefing, where the pilot and an instructor review a recorded video of the simulation.
"What the simulator allows
you to have is someone looking over your shoulder and evaluating your performance," he said, banking over
a virtual cityscape.
The station's new simulators will feature a cockpit surrounded
by panels that work just like a rear-projection television.
Projectors bounce the images of rolling terrain onto a mirror, which deflects them to the
panels.
"Technology for the normal person has come so far, you don't need to spend so much on high technology," Gwinn said.
While the display system is relatively simple, the simulator's guts are a little more
complex.
A bank of 20 or so computers are hooked together to allow an operator in an adjacent room to adjust conditions as the pilot reacts to them.
Operator William McClelland said he can throw bad weather, faux enemy jets and equipment malfunctions at a pilot, depending on the scenario.
When the new simulators
arrive, he'll be able to link them together so pilots can fly cooperative missions or go head-to-head in a virtual shoot-out.
"We can run just about anything you can run into in a real jet," he said.
An auxiliary medical team also can be brought in to adjust the ratio of nitrogen and oxygen a pilot receives to simulate
hypoxia, or a shortage of oxygen pilots can experience at high
altitudes.
At those altitudes, oxygen pressure isn't high enough to force the gas through the lungs and into the bloodstream. The early effects of hypoxia mimic alcohol intoxication, slowing physical and mental reaction times.
"It's the most interactive video game in the world," McClelland said. "The only thing it doesn't come with is a coin slot."
Ellie
Published Thu, Jan 31, 2008 12:00 AM
By DAN HILLIARD
dhilliard@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5531
There's no experience like sliding into the cockpit of an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet, throttling up and aiming for the sky, said Rob Gwinn, the director of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort's training facility.
When you need to practice something costly, however -- like a bombing run or a mid-air dogfight -- it pays to have a few flight simulators handy.
Gwinn expects to install three new flight simulators at the air station by early 2009. The first, a two-seater, will be operational by April.
Until then, air station pilots will practice on the station's lone simulator, which accommodates about
10 one-hour sessions per day.
At $3 million apiece, the new simulators are a bargain, he said.
The air station has had simulators since 1970, but early models had no visual display, no digital readouts and a prohibitively high price tag -- upward of $25 million.
Simulators typically last for about 10 to 20 years before they wear out or are replaced by newer technology. They cost about $250 per hour of operation to run and
maintain.
Compare that with between $8,000 to $9,000 -- including maintenance -- per hour of flight time in a real F/A-18, according to the Marine Corps' Department of Aviation.
Though pilots typically get about 10 percent of their continuing flight practice in a simulator, the simulator is most useful for bombing runs and other high-cost, high-risk
missions.
"You can't just go out and drop smart weapons. Those things cost thousands and thousands of dollars. Here, they can drop them all day in the simulator, and it doesn't cost a thing," Gwinn said. "And, not only do these things cost only 10 percent of what they used to -- without taking inflation into account -- they're 40 percent cheaper to maintain because parts are cheaper."
Royal Australian Air Force pilot Anthony Batchler, on loan to the air station through the officer exchange program, penciled himself in for some simulator time Monday
afternoon.
The biggest value of a simulator to a seasoned pilot is the debriefing, where the pilot and an instructor review a recorded video of the simulation.
"What the simulator allows
you to have is someone looking over your shoulder and evaluating your performance," he said, banking over
a virtual cityscape.
The station's new simulators will feature a cockpit surrounded
by panels that work just like a rear-projection television.
Projectors bounce the images of rolling terrain onto a mirror, which deflects them to the
panels.
"Technology for the normal person has come so far, you don't need to spend so much on high technology," Gwinn said.
While the display system is relatively simple, the simulator's guts are a little more
complex.
A bank of 20 or so computers are hooked together to allow an operator in an adjacent room to adjust conditions as the pilot reacts to them.
Operator William McClelland said he can throw bad weather, faux enemy jets and equipment malfunctions at a pilot, depending on the scenario.
When the new simulators
arrive, he'll be able to link them together so pilots can fly cooperative missions or go head-to-head in a virtual shoot-out.
"We can run just about anything you can run into in a real jet," he said.
An auxiliary medical team also can be brought in to adjust the ratio of nitrogen and oxygen a pilot receives to simulate
hypoxia, or a shortage of oxygen pilots can experience at high
altitudes.
At those altitudes, oxygen pressure isn't high enough to force the gas through the lungs and into the bloodstream. The early effects of hypoxia mimic alcohol intoxication, slowing physical and mental reaction times.
"It's the most interactive video game in the world," McClelland said. "The only thing it doesn't come with is a coin slot."
Ellie